The Powerful Mortal
by solangeloblitzstone
Summary: What if the books that started it all are real? It's been nearly a year since the war with Gaea, and of course that is more than enough time for a new problem to arise. The gods have messed up, and only three demigods and a mortal can fix it. Two of thoes three demigods being Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. Will the books lead to a stronger friendship between Nico and Will or more?
1. 1 Campfire Quests- Nico

I was annoyed. I was annoyed that Percy, who was only visiting from New Rome, and Jason were keeping me at the campfire. I was annoyed with the songs, and I was especially annoyed with a certain son of Aphrodite named Rev. He took Will from me. Will Solace, son of Apollo, the most perfect boy on Earth, with his striking blue eyes, his perfect blonde hair and his amazing smile.

Just as I had thought that we had something. The day I was going to confess my feelings to Will, Rev came and suddenly, Will had a new boyfriend, but that was a year ago.

I must have been scowling pretty hard at the memory, because Jason asked me what was wrong.

"Nothing." I told him, glaring at Rev from across the campfire. "Nothing at all."

"Then why-" Jason started, only to get interrupted by Chiron, who had walked up infront of the fire, stopping the singing mid-song.

"I have gotten a message from the gods." We all gasped.

"They have told me of a special girl in Texas that must be brought here by two demigods. I need volunteers to go pick her up and bring her to camp."

Nobody raised their hand. I turned to just in time to see Rev whisper something into Will's ear. Will smiled and stood up.

"I'll go." He announced. Everyone started whispering to one another. Will never volunteers to go on quests. Not that anyone does, but he never volunteers to do anything that involves fighting.

"That's one." Chiron raised his voice. Everyone stopped talking. Will sat back down. Rev started wispering something else into his ear. I took this chance, and I stood up.

"I'll go too." Everyone went dead silent.

"Man," Percy whispered, "What are you doing?"

"I believe, Percy, that he is going on a quest." Chiron must have heard his question. Percy's ears turned bright red.

"Oh come on!" Rev stood up. "He can't really go can he? He's a child of death. He will only make the quest harder. He will attract more monsters. He-" Rev stopped when he saw Percy and Jason stand.

"He," Jason said,"is right there. He is a fighter. He works well with Will. We all know that Will, no offense, isn't a fighter. Nico, however, would be able to protect him."

"What would you do?" Percy continued for Jason. "Use your so called charm to scare away the monsters? We know that you're not a fighter either. At least with Nico, Will would be safer. Now, what were you saying?"

Rev was silent. He looked to Will for help. The blonde finally stood up and spoke.

"They're right Rev. I work well with Nico. You trust me don't you? I'll be fi-" Will stopped when Rev shot him a dirty look.

I got angry when I saw Rev look at him like that. I accidentally shadow traveled Will next to me. I quickly covered up my suprise and said,

"We have to go pack. We will meet you in the Big House after we're done packing Chiron." I spun on my heel and left, and just like that, I found myself on a quest with Will.


	2. 2 Texas- Nico

As promised, Will and I went to the Big House after we finished packing. I had helped Will pack, advising him on what to take. We were silent as we were walking, though Will kept glancing over at me as if he wanted to say something.

When we got inside, Chiron immediately told us what we needed to know.

"You will be going to Texas to find a girl named Nala." He said, handing us a photograph of the girl that he got from who knows where. "She is about 13 years old with light brown skin, dark brown hair and very dark brown eyes. Why, the first time I saw the picture, I myself thought they were black."

It was true. They were very dark, just like mine, almost black. Chiron told us that we would leave at dawn the next morning.

The next morning at dawn, we were ready to go. Unfortunately, Rev caught us to say bye to Will.

"Bye Willy. Don't forget to be careful. It would also be convenient for you to come back in one piece."

I decided to intervene there.

"Come on Sunshine," I said, using my nickname for Will while glaring at Rev. Sunshine was much better than 'Willy'. I turned back to Will, "Time's being wasted and we have a girl to find."

With that, I grabbed Will's hand and shadow traveled us to Texas.

We landed in a neighborhood. It must be were Nala lived. Will immediately fell on his face.

No matter how many times he shadow travels, he will not be able to land correctly.

I didn't fall, but I did feel a little drowsy. I still haven't fully recovered.

As we walked around, I noticed some things. How the grass was green. How the rising sun filtered perfectly through Will's hair. How even though it was summer, the leaves were different colors, like in the fall. How built Will seemed next to me. Just random things. I was jarred out of my thoughts when Will tapped me. We had reached a park.

"There she is. On the bench with that guy." Will pointed her out. The bench was under a tree. We walked up infront of them.

"Exuse me," Will said, getting her attention. "I'm Will Solace and this is Nico di Angelo. Are you Nala?"

She didn't answer. She stared at us with wide eyes. The boy just looked at us curiously. She opened her mouth to say something when there was a crash behind us. Will and I turned around. The once standing swing set was in pieces on the ground. Before I could call out what it was, the girl beat me to it.

"Hellhound!"


	3. 3 YOLO Girl- Nico

"Hellhound!" Nala yelled. I turned back to her in confusion. How did she know?

"Nico, help!" Will called. He pulled out a dagger and advanced towards the hellhound. I rushed to help, but then more monsters showed up. Two telkhines, two dracaenaes, and even an empousa. As we fought them, I saw Nala out of the corner of my eye. She was holding the boy back, but from what?

That's when I realized that the empousa was talking to him. Will was battling the Hellhound (rather clumsily) while I took on the two dracaenaes and the two telkhines. When I finished off mine and Will his, we went back to help Nala, only to see that she had it under control. She was currently talking to the boy.

"-Charm speaking you. Cover your ears." He covered his ears as she stood up, towards the empousa.

This was getting weirder every second.

"You really don't want to eat him." Nala's words were dripping with charm speak. "He would taste terrible. How about this? You go and try to have Nico? I'm sure he would love that."

The empousa turned towards me and snarled. She took a step foward and I slashed my sword at the empousa. It exploded into dust.

Nala slowly turned towards me. Her face looked pale. She looked at me, then Will, then the sword, then back at me.

"Are you really Nico di Angelo? The Nico di Angelo? The first survivor of Tartarus? The Ghost King? The one who brought the statue half way across the world? One half of Solangelo? The only living child of Hades? A-and Will? The best healer, like, ever? The amazing son of Apollo? The other half of Solangelo? Head counselor of the Apollo cabin? Really?" Her eyes were wide. Nala looked like she was going to faint.

"Um," I said, "how do you-" She interrupted me.

"Oh, of course. You must not know about the books. I read all of them. I can't believe they're real! Now, I'm assuming your here to take Aris and I- Aris!" Nala spun around and faced the boy, Aris I assume, and smiled apologetically. He looked very confused.

"Sorry Aris." She turned back towards us. "Can he come with us to camp? Maybe he's a demigod. His dad left when he was born. He could be the child of Hermes or something." Nala smiled charmingly. I took a closer look at her. She had a black t-shirt on the said in gold letters,

YOLO

unless you're Hazel or Leo!

I figured YOLO was some sort of modern reference, but it bothered me that the shirt had my sister's name on it as well as Leo's. She was also wearing dark skinny jeans and black boots I liked her style.

Aris was wearing a light blue shirt, light blue jeans, and had short light brown hair. They were both in good shape.

Will finally seemed to shake off whatever trance he was in and started asking questions.

"Who are you? How do you know so much about Nico? How do you know so much about me? How did you know what the hellhound was? How did you know about the charm speak? What's with your shirt? How-" Nala interrupted his questions.

"Hold up. I'm Nala Loove. Like groove, but with an 'L'. I know about you and Nico because I read books about you. I'll explain later. I also knew what the hellhound was from the books. Same with the charm speak. My shirt is YOLO, which means 'you only live once', and at the bottom, 'unless you're Hazel or Leo', is because they both died and came back to life. Also, this is Aris. He is my best friend." She gestured to the boy, who stood up to stand next to her.

"Hold on. What's going on?" Aris asked. Nala turned to him.

"These are characters from my favorite book series." Nala told Aris. She looked back at us. "Aris might be a demigod. He could see through the Mist. Nico, can you sense if he is a demigod or not?"

"I-I can. I learned how to after the war. But how do you know I can-"

"Just a wild guess. I don't think you could sense demigods in the books."

"Hold on." Will made a 'time out' gesture with his hands. "What books? Are we in books?"

"Well, yeah. The first series is called Percy Jackson and The Olympians. The second is called, The Heros of Olympus. You're introduced in the third book Nico. It's called The Titan's Curse, and you're in the fifth one Will. It's called, The Last Olympian. You healed Annabeth remember?"

Will and I just stared at Nala.

"Well," She continued as if nothing was wrong, "Let's get to camp. I want to meet Chiron."


	4. 4 The Chosen One- Will

It's been three days since the incident at the park. Aris was claimed by Hermes during the campfire the night we got back to camp. Nala is still a mystery. She seemed to have attached herself to Nico. She followed him around everywhere while Aris got with his new siblings. Nico didn't seem to mind, for some reason. Nala also refuses to tell us any more about the books. She heard about the councelors meeting that was supposed to happen tomorrow and said that it would be the perfect time to explain.

"It's better to explain all at once." She had said.

I, however, spent most of the three days working in the infirmary. Rev tried to get me to hang out with him, but that involved ditching the infirmary and my cabin mates. He might be my boyfriend, but I don't want to skip helping people just to hang out. Right now, I'm in the archery range helping Nala and Nico, even if I can't shoot to save my life (which Nico reminds me of every day). Nala is trying to be polite, Nico is just flat out complaining.

"This is stupid!" He threw the bow down. "I mean, I use a sword. I don't need to know how to shoot a bow."

"I beg to differ." Nala argued before I could even open my mouth. She was wearing a camp shirt and the same jeans that she came in. "First, don't throw the bow, you might break it. Second, what if you are in the middle of a battle and you lost your sword, and the only weapon you can find is a bow. You'll need to know how to shoot then. Like what happened to Percy in The Battle Of The Lab- never mind."

"She's right." I agreed, ignoring her slip up. "It's a useful skill."

"Whatever. I would never lose my sword." Nico grumbled.

"You could." I pressed.

"Not."

"Could."

"Not!"

"Could!"

"No-" Nico was interrupted by someone giggling. We looked at Nala.

"I'm sorry." She confessed, not looking sorry. "You guys just fight like an old married couple. It's adorable."

I say, "I have a boyfriend." At the same time Nico says, "I'm not adorable."

"What?" Nala stared at me. "You have a boyfriend?" She looked at me in disbelief. She then whispered, "But, solangelo."

"Uh, what?" Nico asked. He took the words right out of my mouth.

"Never mind. Nico, we need to talk." She started to pull Nico towards his cabin by the scruff of his shirt, ignoring his complaining. She then called over her shoulder, "Sorry Will, got to go." With one last wave, she turned around and didn't look back.

I finally decided to go meet up with Rev at the arena.

"Hey Willy." He said when I got there. I cringed ever so slightly at the nickname. "I hope you know that you're going to get crushed tonight."

He must have been referring to the game of capture the flag that we're going to play tonight.

Ever since the war, there was a new rule that not all of the cabins would play capture the flag at once. One week it would be certain cabins, the next week it would be the others. Tonight it was the Hermes, Hades, Apollo, Hecate, Athena and Poseidon, vs. Aphrodite, Demeter, Hephaestus, Zeus, Hypnos and Dionysus. That left out Ares, Nemisis and a few others. I figured my team was in pretty good shape.

After dinner, the game started. Nico wasn't playing. Doctor's orders. He still got weak from shadow traveling, even after a year. He simply sat on the sidelines watching.

Nala and Aris worked very well together. They were quick learners and picked up sword fighting fairly quick. Especially Nala.

After a long battle, I finally managed to sneak by their defenses and I got the flag. They were to busy fighting to notice me until I jumped across the creek and won for my team.

Everyone congratulated me as we went to the campfire. We sang songs and made s'mores. Then, something happened.

A loud gasp spread a hush across the crowd of demigods. Everyone stared at Nala, or really, above her head. There was a dark symbol. She was being claimed, by Hades. I glanced over at Nico. His eyes were wide. I looked back at Nala. More symbols were starting to appear around her.

Zeus, Hypnos, Apollo and more.

Soon, she was surrounded by a symbol for every god we knew, and even more we didn't recognize. It was as if all the gods were claiming her at once. She looked shell-shocked.

Chiron finally broke the silence. "It seems, that Ms. Loove is more important than we thought." He announced. "It is my honor to officially welcome you, Nala Loove, mortal, chosen one of the gods, to Camp Half-Blood."


	5. 5 The Prophecy- Will

**_A/N:I don't believe that the 'chosen one' is actually real. I made it up. I am also re-posting this from another app so after the 16th chachapter the updates may take a longer time. Please comment._**

It was chaos. Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground to get our attention while the symbols around Nala faded. Nala looked down at herself and gasped. Then she groaned. The only thing that didn't go away was Aphrodite's blessing. She was clearly not feeling blessed.

We slowly stopped talking and looked at Chiron.

"Thank you. If you will please stay quiet, I will explain. There have only been a few times where the gods have needed to choose a chosen one. The only time they do, is when something disastrous is about to happen. The chosen ones are always kept on the down-low. That is why you have never heard of them, and why they are not in the myths. Nala here, is one of thoes chosen ones. She has the power of all of the gods. She is not a god herself, for she is not immortal, but she is almost as powerful as one."

Well that cleared things up. Honestly, I had thought of Harry Potter when he said 'Chosen One'

All eyes were on Nala. Instead of cracking under the pressure, like I would have done, she asked a logical question.

"If I am here, then what's the disaster?" She asked. Annabeth agreed.

"Yeah. Although, what could be worse and more disastrous than Gaea?" Annabeth asked. Chiron answered her.

"Well, Annabeth, as a matter of fact, some thing could be worse. Something like-" Before Chiron could finish, Nala suddenly blurted out.

"A new quest. A chained goddess." She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. I just kinda said what was on my mind. I mean-"

"There is no need to apologize," Chiron interupted, "but I must ask you, how do you know? Did you have a dream last night? Or before?"

"No. I just came up with that in my head. Why? Was I right? Did the gods tell you the future?"

"They showed me only bits and pieces. You must know because of Apollo's power of prophecy."

Nico suddenly snapped to attention and sat up straighter.

"That must be how you could charm speak." He realized out loud. Everyone looked at him. "Aphrodite's powers. Also why you're so good at fighting so quickly. Ares's powers probably helped you. But-" Nico's voice died in his throat as Rachel Elizabeth Dare walked out infront of the campfire and promptly fainted. We all knew what was happening. Her helpers brought a stool over as she sat up straight and started to speak.

"Gone is the veil that covers the eyes,

Four must go to the mountain of lies,

Darkness, Light, son of theives and the One,

Shall unleash Magic from bonds hot as the sun,

A traitor within, known by many and more,

Will free the father of the second war."

With that, she went limp. The helpers carried her away as she regained consciousness.

After a long period of silence, Chiron spoke.

"A new prophecy has been told, and it is clear who must go on the quest."


	6. 6 The Councilor Meeting- Will

_"A new prophecy has been told and it is clear who must go on the quest."_

Everyone started looking around and whispering to each other.

"We will discuss this tomorrow at the councilors meeting. Your counselors will relay any information back to you after the meeting. Nala, Percy, Jason, and Nico, please stay behind. Everyone else, go back to your cabins. You are dismissed." Everyone left. I started to as well, when I heard Nico call my name.

"Will! Can you stay with me while we talk to Chiron? Please?" He asked. He looked nervous.

"Of course." I replied. We walked over to Chiron just as he began to speak.

"Nala, you need a cabin to sleep in. Even though I don't allow a girl and a boy that are not siblings to be alone in the same cabin, I know that Percy and Jason would never cheat on their girlfriends. I also would rather you not stay in a cabin with so many people, so if they don't mind, you may choose to sleep in Percy's cabin, Jason's cabin, or in Nico's cabin. Would you be okay with that boys?"

"Yeah!" Percy and Jason said at the same time.

"That's nice of you guys," Nala said, "But I'd honestly rather bunk with Nico in his cabin. Is that okay Nico?"

We all looked at Nico. We all, including him, were suprised.

"I-I guess." Nico stammered. Chiron nodded in satisfaction. Then he asked,

"Do you, Nico, swear-" Knowing what Chiron was about to say, Nico cut him off.

"Yes Chiron. I swear on the river styx that Nala and I wont do any thing inappropriate."

"Good. Now, go back to your cabins. Nala, I believe you need to get your things from the Hermes cabin. Please get them quickly. The rest of you, have a good night."

We all murmured goodnight and walked back to our cabins. I walked Nico to his cabin. On the way, we talked.

"Nico, you know, it was very generous of you to say yes to Nala. She has been hanging around you alot. Do you think she likes you. Do you like her? " For a reason that I couldn't name, when I heard myself say that, I sounded a bit disappointed.

"Oh no. I would never like her." He assured me. "I like someone else. Besides, I'm ga- er, um, I mean, uh! Never mind."

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing. Goodnight Will." I hadn't even noticed that we were standing outside his cabin. We must have been talking the whole way. When I looked at Nico, he was trying to hide his face from me, but it was to late. I saw the faint blush that he was trying to hide.

"Yeah. Bye. Goodnight." I replied. He went through the door.

I spun around on my heel and speed-walked to my cabin before the harpies came after me, wondering about all of the different things that the stuttering could have meant.

The councilors meeting the next day was _chaotic_. Everyone was yelling except for Nico and me.

"HEY! EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" We all turned to the voice. It was Rev. For some reason, we all listened to him. He gave a dashing smile.

"Thank you." It actually made sense why we all listened. Rev was very popular and known by _many_ people in camp, and apparently by even _more_ people at his mortal school.

After another minute, Chiron came into the room.

"I apologize." He started. "I got caught up in a conversation over Iris Message. Anyway, we must discuss the problem at hand. The prophecy."

"At least it's an easy one right?" Everyone looked twards Nico's direction.

"Hey," He started holding up his hands in surrender, "I may not have that deep of a voice, but it sure as heck isn't that high."

"Hey!" Nala said. She was sitting next to him. "I don't have _that_ high of a voice. And yes, I was the one who spoke. Besides, you would sound weird with a high pitched voice. Like," She continued in a high pitched voice, "Hi _, I'm Nico di Angelo and I am sooo in love with_ mph-" She was cut off by Nico putting his hand over her mouth. He was bright red. I wondered what she was going to say, had Nico not covered her mouth.

"Anyway, _ow_!" Nico squealed in such a high pitched voice that most of us covered our ears. Nico turned to Nala.

"You _bit_ my hand. How dare you! I am the son of Hades and I-"

"Yeah yeah. Your so scary _blah, blah, blah._ Well, you should learn to not put _your_ hand over _my_ mouth. It will end badly." We all stared at Nala shocked. She was the first and most likely the last person to speak to Nico that way without ending up in the infirmary.

"Anyway, back to the point. I wasn't kidding about what I said before. This prophecy is way easier. I even memorized it. _Gone is the veil that covers the eyes_. That is obviously the Mist. And-"

"Hold up!" Clarisse said. She was ths first camper to speak after watching the almost comical interaction between Nala and Nico.

"How do you know about the other prophecys?"

"Well, Clarisse, I tried a little experiment last night. I shadow traveled with Nico, healing him the best I could with my Apollo powers, although I can't do as good of a job as you Will. Anyway, I brought the books with me. We had gone to my house. They are underneath the table."

She brought out a duffle that I had not noticed before. She explained the books and we all listened intently. When she was done, I was the first to speak.

"Wow. So you know, like, all of our secrets."

"Kinda." She replied. "I do know many things about you guys. Like, how Nico was very neardy when he was ten. How he loved Mythomagic. What happened on the Argo II. What happened to Percy and Annabeth in, um," She looked at Nico carefully, who was looking down at his lap, "You know. Also, on a different note, I talked with the Apollo cabin, not including you Will. Sorry. And I talked with Chiron. We have agreed that tomorrow at the campfire will be karaoke night. Where you can sing any random song, or sing to someone special." Nico made another squeak. It sounded like he said a word. Something along the lines of _'what',_ but his voice was so high. When I looked at him he blushed and asked Nala,

"You actually went through with that?"

"Yes. And as a bonus, at one point in the night, Nico will be singing a song. I hope you think about what song you want to sing. The Hephaestus cabin also agreed to build a karaoke machine. Leo can build one pretty fast, can't you Leo?"

"Sure can. It'll be easy." He said back.

"Well," Chiron cut in, "I believe that we have spent enough time here. We will continue the discussion about the prophecy at the campfire tomorrow. If that is all, you are dismissed."

We all got up and left. As I was walking out, I went over to Nico and Nala.

"Hey." I said. "Want to go practice?" Nala replied before Nico could speak.

"Sorry. We need to prepare for tomorrow. Lil' Neeks is singing a song. Bye Will." With that, Nala pulled Nico out of the room.

I worked in the infirmary for the rest of the day. At the campfire, Rev was bragging that he found out that for the next capture the flag game, he would be the captin for one of the teams. Nala was running by at that time and slowed down a bit, listened what he said, and was off again. Chiron made the announcement and everyone was looking forward to tomorrow night. Especially the Aphrodite cabin.

That night, I had a nightmare.

 _I was chained to the wall of a blank white room. There were no windows or doors. No furniture either. A door shaped hole opened on the wall that I was facing. My mom came out. The hole closed behind her. I remembered when I came out to her. She called me names and threw me out. She disowned me. Here she was again._ _"You don't deserve to live." She snapped at me. She slapped me across my face. I was in tears by now. "You should just kill yourself. No one will ever love you."_

I shot up in bed. I could feel tears coming. I put my shoes on and ran out of the cabin. The nightmare I had was constantly reappearing. It never happened. It was only showing my fear of what could happen if I told my mom about my homosexuality.

I needed comfort. There was only one person who could cheer me up now. I ran to his cabin, not caring about the harpies. I needed to see him. I pounded on the door.

"Nico! Please let me in." My voice sounded like I was about to cry, which I was. Nico opened the door.

"Solace, I swear to all of the gods, if you woke me up for no reason- are you ok?" I gathered him in a hug and whispered one word.

 _"Nightmare."_ He let me in and we talked quietly, as to not disturb Nala who was still sleeping. He made a joke and I laughed, dispite the fact that I was about to cry.

I walked back to my cabin lster that night feeling much better.

It was karaoke night. Leo was hosting it. We were all at the campfire.

"Ladys and gentlemen," Leo announced through the karaoke machine, "Our first song of the night will be sung by," He got a look of suprise on his face when he unfolded the paper with the name of the first person, "Nico di Angelo?"


	7. 7 Karaoke Night- Nico

A/N: That is the song Nico will be singing. Please watch and comment.

Sometimes, I hate Nala. I couldn't believe that I was about to sing, and in front of the whole camp no less. I don't know how she talked me into it. Although, blackmailed is a better word.

I walked in front of the campfire and took the microphone Leo was holding out to me. Everyone had gathered to one side of the fire so that they could see. The campers looked suprised. Was it really so suprising for an anti-social son of Hades to willingly sing infront of the whole camp? Who am I kidding?

For Will. I repeated in my head. For Will, for Will, for Will, for Will...

Nala told me that a public display of affection, in this case a song, by someone who loves him would break the curse... the one that Rev had Will under. An old Aphrodite curse Rev got his dirty mitts on. That was the only reason that Will would ever date Rev. A love spell, and I'm going to break it.

"H-hi." My voice was barley a whisper. I cleared my throat and said louder, "Hello."

"So, Nico." Leo said to me, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Random, or for someone?"

"What?"

"Your song. Are you up here to sing a random song for no reason, or are you singing to someone?"

"Oh. For someone."

"Who?"

"I'm not saying."

"Ok, what song?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." I growled at him. I couldn't help it. He asked too many questions.

"You guys might know this song," I continued, "but I kind of changed it to fit. A demigod parody of sorts. Here goes nothing." I took a deep breath as I typed in what song I wanted into the karaoke machine. I chose the setting so that it only played music, not the words. It started, and some people immediately recognized it.

"You're on an Iris-message with your boyfriend,

He's upset

He's going off about something that you said

'Cause he doesn't get your humour like I do"

I remember walking into Will's cabin while Will was on an iris-message with Rev. That was awkward.

"I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night

I'm listening to the kind of music he doesn't like

And he'll never know your story like I do

But he wears tank tops, I wear t-shirts

He's capture the flag captain and I'm on the sidelines

Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find

That what you're looking for has been here the whole time"

I dramatically clutched the fabric on my chest, looking up at the sky while trying not to look at Will.

"If you could see that I'm the one who understands you

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me

You belong with me"

I gave up, and stared into Will's eyes, as he was in the front row. He stared right back.

"Walkin the camp with you in your worn out jeans

I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be

Laughing in my cabin thinkin to myself

Hey isn't this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole camp

I haven't seen it in a while, since he brought you down"

I thought about how Will's smiles seemed forced lately.

"You say you're fine I know you better than that.

Hey, Whatcha doing with a boy like that?

He wears high tops, I wear sneakers

He's capture the flag captain and I'm on the sidelines

Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find

That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door

All this time how could you not know maybe

You belong with me

You belong with me"

Will's eyes widened in realization. I just kept looking into his blue orbs. He didn't look away either.

"Oh I remember you running to my cabin in the middle of the night

I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry"

The other night.

"I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams

think I know where you belong.

think I know it's with me.

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door

All this time how could you not know maybe

You belong with me

You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe

You belong with me

You belong with me."

The last thing I had to do to break the curse was to let him know that I love him. Still looking into Will's eyes, I set the microphone on the ground and reached into my pocket. I unfolded the piece of printer paper from my pocket that said the words I love you on it in bold black marker, just like in the music video for the song that Nala forced me to watch. The audience gasped. I ignored them. Will knew it was for him. I sensed the curse shatter. It was enough for me. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the shadows rised around me,engulfing me,and when the shadows dispersed, I was gone.

Will

He left. He just left. You can't just drop a big bomb like that and leave. I couldn't believe it. I have seen the Taylor Swift You Belong With Me music video. I just couldn't believe he-

Wait. I thought. I stood up. Why is the world spinning?

I fell to the ground with a thud. The last thought that went through my mind as people gathered around me and my vision began to darken was, I wish Nico was here.

Nico

I knew Will would pass out after my confession. It was a side afect from breaking the curse. He would remember everything until the end of the song. He would remember the last word I sang, then nothing until he woke up. He would, however, wake knowing about the curse, and who put it on him.

I was not expecting to shadow travel though. Especially that dramatically. I guess I did it subconsciously, putting on a show. I was a bit breathless, although not completely exhausted, since I only went a few feet away.

Nala must have heard me land. I had appeared a few feet off the ground at the edge of the woods, close to where Nala was. She glanced in my direction and quietly tip toed over to me. Not that anyone would notice her. They were all crowded around Will, who was being taken to the infirmary on a stretcher. Where they got it from, I don't know.

"Ciao" I greeted in italian, saying hello.

"Hi." She replied. Nala didn't need to be able to speak italian to know what I said. She got the gist. "Well that worked. I could sense the spell shatter. I'm getting a good handle on my powers for only knowing about them for two days huh?"

"Yep. I can't believe I did that, and infront of everyone. At least he won't remember this." I gave her the paper that said, I love you on it.

"Well, time to face the public." She said.

I paled even more than I thought possible. The campers remembered everything.

"I forgot all about them." I admitted. "What will I tell them?"

"Relax" She assured me. "They'll just guess that you're message was for some random girl. Every girl is probably hoping that you were referring to them with the paper. You're all the Aphrodite girls talk abou. That's for sure. They're always coming up to me when I'm alone saying things like, 'You should just back off. He will never like you when I'm here. Nico will be my future boyfriend. Not yours, so just stop trying.' It's mostly that one snobby girl Isabelle. I hate her already, and I haven't been here fo a week! Anyway, they would walk away talking about how you're better than Jason or Percy. Although, you probably already know all this, right? You're very popular."

I just stared at Nala in disbelief. I finally managed to choke out two words.

"I'm popular?"


	8. 8 Irreplaceable? I Don't Think So- Will

I was furious. I wake up, in the infirmary, from a dream about Rev. I watched him, in the past I'm assuming, put a spell, a love spell on me. What the Hades? It got worse. Apparently, he had been seeing some other girl. He had been cheating on me with a Girl! He never even liked me from the beginning. Although, the spell does explain why I suddenly had feelings for him for the first time when he asked me out.

I hopped out of the bed stormed out of the infirmary, despite my siblings' protests. I noticed that it was the middle of the afternoon, most likely the day after the campfire. I saw that Rev had been waiting outside.

"Hey Will! They wouldn't let me in and- OW!" I slapped him across his face. He held his cheek.

"WHY REV? WHY WOULD YOU PUT A FREAKING LOVE SPELL ON ME?" I yelled. Then in a deadly calm and low voice I said, "For a whole year you took advantage of me. We are officially over."

With that, I gave him my back and stormed off towards the Hades cabin, but as I walked he yelled after me.

"Just try and find someone as good as me. I'm irreplaceable!"

Nico

I awoke to knocking. I groaned quietly and tried ignoring it, but Nala had other plans. I heard her quietly get out of bed and walk to the door. It creaked open. I stayed lying down.

"Hey." Will's voice. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Nala held the door open. "Just be quiet so you don't wake Nico." She told him softly. I made a split second decision and pretend to still be asleep. I heard footsteps. Then I heard the door close. Then a creak. Will must have sat on a bed. I heard, who I guessed was Nala, retrieve something from her bedside table. Another creak. She had sat down. Will's voice again, but quieter.

"I didn't know that you wore glasses."

Apparently, she had grabbed glasses.

"I was wearing contacts before. When Nico and I went to my house for the books, I got some other essentials, like toiletries and cloths and stuff. Also, my glasses." Nala explained.

"Oh. Well, I was hoping to talk to Nico but..."

"You can talk to me. I mean- if you want. If it's a private thing-"

"No. It's okay. It's just... Rev... I broke up with him." I almost broke my cover and jumped up and down for joy. I settled for a microscopic smile.

"You did?!" Nala asked happily, until she remembered herself and quickly covered it up by asking again in a concerned tone. "I mean,you did?"

"Yeah." Will confirmed. "You seem happy about that."

"No, it's just... you two didn't seem... right together I guess. I should know. Aphrodite's powers."

"Oh. Well, he had put a spell on me. I guess it broke. He was also cheating on me with some girl." I want to punch Rev and that girl in the face. "Anyway, I just wanted to talk to Nico, but since he's asleep I can't."

"I get it." Nala said. "Well, you should be heading to breakfast. I'll wake up mister sleepy-pants. We'll see you later. Promise."

It sounded like she was pushing him out of the door.

"Um... o-okay. Bye-" he stuttered. The door slammed closed.

"You can stop pretending Nico. I know you're awake." Nala told me after waiting a few seconds to make sure Will had gone. I sat up.

"How'd you know? I thought I was doing a good job. Will bought it."

"Well, I'm not gullible. Also, I could hear you groan when Will knocked."

"Oh."

"So, they broke up."

"I heard." We both broke into huge grins and started jumping around the cabin yelling things like, 'we did it!' or, 'We won!'

We did that for about a minute before I fell backwards on the bed complaining that my face hurt.

"Well, if you smiled more, maybe you'd get used to it. Although, it's gotten better right? In The Blood of Olympus your face hurt from smiling once, not even for two seconds."

"The what of huh?" I asked.

"One of the books. Remember?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

We then got ready for the rest of the day.

At the campfire that night, Chiron announced that we would continue the karaoke night.

A lot of people went up. Including Percy, Jason, and Leo, who danced to a song called Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae) by Silenió. It was very entertaining. Especially the fact that Percy and Jason crashed into each other during the Superman. I enjoyed my front row seat.

Finally, when Leo said that only one more song would be sung, Will walked up to the stage and took the microphone. He put the song he would sing into the karaoke machine.

"This is for you Rev. I'm singing Irreplaceable by Beyoncé." He said.

"To the left, to the left

To the left, to the left

To the left, to the left

Everything you own in the box to the left

In the closet that's my stuff, yes

If I bought it please don't touch

And keep talking that mess, that's fine

But could you walk and talk at the same time?

And it's my name that is on that tag

So remove your bags let me call you a cab

Standing in the front yard telling me

How I'm such a fool, talking about

How I'll never ever find a man like you

You got me twisted

You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I could have another you in a minute

Matter fact he'll be here in a minute, baby"

Will winked at me. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I can have another you by tomorrow

So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So go ahead and get gone

And call up that chick and see if she's home

Oops, I bet ya thought that I didn't know

What did you think I was putting you out for?"

Rev looked surprised. Will must have not told him. That line fit perfectly.

"Because you was untrue

Rolling her around in the car that I bought you

Baby drop them keys

Hurry up before your taxi leaves

Standing in the front yard telling me

How I am such a fool, talking about

How I'll never ever find a man like you

You got me twisted

You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I can have another you in a minute

Matter fact he'll be here in a minute, baby"

Will was flat out glaring at Rev now.

"You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I'll have another you by tomorrow

So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So since I'm not your everything

How about I'll be nothing, nothing at all to you

Baby I won't shed a tear for you, I won't lose a wink of sleep

'Cause the truth of the matter is replacing you is so easy

To the left, to the left

To the left, to the left

To the left, to the left

Everything you own in the box to the left

To the left, to the left

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I can have another you in a minute

Matter fact he'll be here in a minute, baby

You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I can have another you by tomorrow

So don't you ever for a second get to thinking, baby

You must not know 'bout me

You must not know 'bout me

I can have another you in a minute

Matter fact he'll be here in a minute

You could pack all your bags, we're finished

'Cause you made your bed, now lay in it

I can have another you by tomorrow

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable."

For a second, everyone was silent. Then, an voice, it sounded like Cecil's, yelled out,

"YOU NEED SOME ICE FOR THAT BURN REV?" Everyone started cracking up. They also called out comments similar to that. I had a huge smile on my face. Will still had one more thing to say.

"Hey Rev, can I ask you to promise me something? This other girl that you're with, treat her right would you? Don't treat her how you treated me. Like trash. I'm done Leo." Will handed the microphone back to Leo and took a seat next to me. I was far away from Rev, who was in the back row.

Chiron then clopped up to the front.

"Now," he said, "it is time to talk about a matter put off for far to long. The prophecy."


	9. 9 Oh Great, the Queen of Wheat

"The prophecy." Chiron announced. Great. I most definitely had not been looking forward to this. I scowled as Chiron continued.

"Rachel, would you mind coming up here and reciting the prophecy."

"Sure." A voice piped up from the middle of the crowd. Rachel stood up and made her way to the front. She cleared her throat and spoke.

 _"Gone is the veil that covers the eyes,_

 _Four must go to the mountain of lies,_

 _Darkness, Light, son of thieves and the One,_

 _Shall unleash Magic from bonds hot as the sun,_

 _A traitor within, known by many and more,_

 _Will free the father of the second war."_

"Thank you. Rachel. You may sit." Chiron told her. She went back to her spot and sat. "Now, Nala, you said that you understand the prophecy? Can you come explain it to us?"

"Of course Chiron." Nala got up from her seat next to me and walked over next to Chiron, in front of everyone.

"The first line, _gone is the veil that covers the eyes,_ is about the Mist. Most likely about it dissolving or something. Anyway, I'm not sure about the mountain of lies, but _Darkness, Light, son of thieves and the One,_ that's pretty obvious. Will, Nico, Aris and I will go on the que-"

"Hold on!" We all turned to the back row. Rev had gotten over the shock of Will's song and interrupted her. "How do you know that _Nico_ is going." He said my name like it was poison. I sent a scowl his way. "I can be pretty dark. I should go." He continued. Nala then spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Ha ha ha, _no_. You're wearing a bright orange camp shirt with neon green jeans and bright white high tops." It was true. I hadn't noticed that before. "Could you be any more bright... or Aphrodite for that matter? You are the opposite of dark, so just _zip up your mouth and let me talk!"_ Nala practically hissed the last part.

"OH _SNAP_!" Travis yelled out. Everyone laughed. Nala looked pleased with herself. I was just kind of zoning out. My eyes were half closed. Chiron was stomping his hoof to try and restore order when I was snapped out of my 'la la' land by Will's head landing on my shoulder. My eyes snapped open. I kept my head still and looked at Will with my eyes. His eyes were half closed.

"Do... do you mind?" He asked sounding tired. My face was flaming. He was basically asking to sleep on me.

"Why don't we go to my cabin?" I suggested.

"Kay." He yawned. We quietly got up and walked to my cabin. I would just have Nala fill me in later.

On our way there, when we were just at the edge of the crowd surrounding the campfire, I heard some girls giggle. I looked back to see a group of Aphrodite girls. They were giggling and looking in our direction. Will, completely oblivious to me stopping, had kept on going, but their eyes weren't following him.

They were looking straight at _me_.

They finally seemed to notice me looking at them because they just giggled some more and waved at me. I remembered what Nala told me, about me being popular and all. I decided to turn and jog back up to Will, thoroughly creeped out.

When we got to the cabin Will plopped down onto a spare bed. I stood at the door.

"Do you mind if I stay the night?" Will asked.

"S-sure" I replied, cursing myself for stuttering.

"Good night." He said. He kicked off his shoes and got under the covers. I watched him as his breathing evened out. A tell tale sign that he was asleep.

I sighed and sat on my bed. My mind drifted back to the day when Nala blackmailed me into singing.

 _Nala walked through the door. She had just come back from getting her stuff from the Hermes cabin. She still lookedannoyed from the Aphrodite 'blessing'._

 _"Hey," She started, "you wanna try something?"_

 _"What?" I asked._

 _"Shadow Traveling. I'll help of course. I just want to get my books and some other... personal things."_

 _"Um.. sure."_

 _We ended up going to her house. She helped me as promised. She even left a note explaining everything for her mom and sister. When we got back, we had a serious talk._

 _"Nico," Nala began, "I'm going to blackmail you, but think of it like, constructive blackmailing."_

 _I stared at her, my mouth agape. I finally spoke._

 _"What the fu-"_

 _"Language!"_

 _"-dge... I was going to say fudge."_

 _"No you weren't."_

 _"No I wasn't." I agree. "Anyway, what's constructive blackmailing? There is no such thing._

 _"Sure there is. I tell you to do something and if you don't then I blackmail you. The thing is, the thing I make you do will help you. See? Constructive."_

 _"What are you going to make me so?"_

 _"Well, Nico my dear, you will sing in frontof the whole camp." She then explained the spell on Will. She had a feeling Will and Rev weren't right together and did a little digging with the Aphrodite cabin. She told me her findings._

 _"There is no way I'm going to sing in frontof everyone." I said when she was done_

 _"Well... I could just tell the camp you have a crush on Will."_

 _"I-I don't... how do you...?"_

 _"I know everything. Now you gonna sing?"_

 _I gave in._

 _"What do I have to do?"_

 _"Well..." She told me what I had to do. We finally went to bed about half an hour later._

I sighed at the memory and walked to my dresser. I changed into some night cloths. I then walked over to Will's bed. I moved some hair out of his forehead and put it behind his ear. He had told me good night before I slipped down memory lane.

"Good night Will." I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. I walked to my bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.

~ **Nala~**

I spotted Nico and Will get up and leave as Chiron continued to try to restore order. I smirked to myself. That's fine. I'll just fill them in later. Chiron seemed to be having a hard time. I decided to help him.

"HEY EVERYONE! NEXT PERSON TO TALK WASHES DISHES FOR A _MONTH_! SO UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO THAT, I SUGGEST YOU SHUT UP!" I shouted. It went dead quiet. "Thank you." I said, laughing in my head about how gullible they were.

"Now," I continued, "as I was saying, Nico, Will, Aris and I will go on the quest. The other lines we can figure out during the quest. We need to figure out where to go first."

"Perhaps I can help with that." A female voice said behind me. Everyone gasped. I slowly turned around. I took in the goddess before me. I spoke.

"Um... I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your... Per... no... aha! Demeter!" By the look on her face, I'd say I got it right.

 _Oh great._ I thought. _The Queen of Wheat is here to help._

Luckily, I didn't say that out loud. Demeter spoke,

"That is correct. A fellow goddess has been captured. I believe it has something to do with your quest. I really shouldn't be telling you this, you know Zeus, but I owe her a great debt. She helped me find something precious to me. The first place you need to go, is in an almost inescapable place. The son of Hades will not like this place. I hope that helped a little. One more thing. You must be wondering who the traitor is. All I can tell you that they are the child of-" The sky rumbled. "Zeus has noticed my absence. I must be going now. Good night, and tell Mico, I mean, Nico to eat more cereal."

"Wait!" I cried. "Why are you helping us? Aren't you not aloud to interfere with quests and stuff?"

"As I said before. I owe the goddess a great debt." She started glowing and we all averted our eyes. When I looked up again, she was gone.

"Well," Chiron said, "you should leave in the morning after talking with Nico and Will, but first, Aris, son of Hermes, do you accept this quest?"

I looked at Aris with pleading eyes.

"Y-yes sir. I-I do." Aris said. I rolled my eyes at the word 'sir'.

"Good." Chiron announced. "You leave in the morning. Everyone should now get to their cabins for a good night's sleep. Good night." With that, we left for our cabins. It was going to be a big day tomorrow.


End file.
